Month: June 2015

As FC Juarez started their Apertura 2015 season this past Monday morning at 7:30am at Benito Juarez Olympic Stadium there were still a lot questions left to be answered. What is the official name and mascot of the team going to be? When are the tickets going on sale? What are the prices going to be? Will they sell tickets in El Paso?

While none of these questions were answered over the course of this past week, one of the questions I’ve had has been answered.

With the involvement of MountainStar Sports Group, I have been wondering if there is going to a presence of any of the companies own by the Foster and Hunt families at the stadium or on the uniforms of this new franchise.

The answer is apparently yes. Both the Western Refining and Hunt Companies logos appeared on the practice jerseys that were worn by the players all week at their two-a-day practices. Needless to say seeing those logos on those jerseys reaffirmed that this team is in very good hands both from a financial standpoint and an administrative one.

If and when this team earns a promotion to the Liga Mx, Mexico’s premier soccer division, they will immediately and undoubtedly be able to contend with all of the teams at that level, if not have better financial backing than more than two-thirds of the league.

(Above) Players gathering prior to the start of training session earlier this week.

Today marked the start of the Apertura 2015 season for FC Juarez. The team from the Borderland opened its preseason this morning at Benito Juarez Olympic Stadium at 7:30 am for one of two practice sessions that will be held today.

All but three of the players for the club were present for today’s initial practice session. The players not present were Efrain Cortes from Columbia, the Brazilian Leandro Carrijo and Pablo Metlich. Cortes has to finalize some visa issues, Carrijo will be in the Borderland later today or tomorrow and Metlich will incorporate himself with the team later today as he had some pending issues in San Luis, Potosi with his former club Atletico San Luis.

Head coach Sergio Orduna, stated that FC Juarez is looking to arrange 5 preseason matches as of June 28th, prior to the start of the season on Saturday, July 25th against Lobos BUAP at Benito Juarez Olympic Stadium. As for the rivals in these preseason matches, Orduna hinted that FC Juarez is or will be reaching out to teams located in northern Mexico. These teams include Santos, Monterrey, Tigres, and Correcaminos (Roadrunners) UAT. No other details were provided.

Another preseason option is that FC Juarez travel to Mexico City and play against many of the teams located in that part of the country (i.e. Queretaro, Toluca, Puebla).

As for the playing surface at “San Benito” as it is referred to by some of the most loyal soccer fans on both sides of the border, the pitch looked in more than adequate conditions this morning and there is no doubt in will only continue to improve.

The front office for FC Juarez had a very busy day yesterday. 22 players were acquired on Thursday throughout the day and in the end the consensus by soccer fans throughout the Borderland, that were following all of the developments via social media, was that the effort was an outstanding success.

The biggest acquisition was that of forward Sebastian Maz. Maz was the star forward for CF Indios the year they won the 2nd Division Championship and were promoted to Mexico’s Premiere Soccer Division in the spring of 2008.

18 out of the 22 players acquired are Mexican, most of them coming from the farm system of 2 first division teams in Mexico (Liga Mx), Rayados de Monterrey and Tigeres de Monterrey.

The player that stands out from a local perspective has to be Joaquin Alonso Hernandez from Rayados de Monterrey. The 21 year old forward from El Paso, Texas has already been called up to the Under-22 United States Men’s National Team in the past.

As for a famous or well known player acquired by FC Juarez, undoubtedly it would have to be defensive midfielder Edgar Mejia who has spent a majority of his career with Chivas de Guadalajara.

This is the latest news regarding the new Liga de Ascenso team from Cd. Juarez (temporarily known as FC Juarez) that will begin competition this upcoming Apertura 2015 season that will start on July 25, 2015. The following news was obtained via the team’s official Facebook page and the internet page from the Mexican Soccer Federation.

The Quest to Build a Roster Has Begun:

The preseason league meetings known as the “draft” have started in Cancun, Quintana Roo today. It is not a draft in the traditional sense that we are used to here in the U.S. but just an event in which teams release who they are putting up for trade and/or loan to see what other teams are interested in picking up these players and making deals. The coaching staff for FC Juarez is already in Cancun. Alvaro Navarro (Sporting Vice President), Rodrigo Cuaron (Administrative Vice President), along with Team President Alejandra De La Vega and her husband Paul Foster (representing Mountain Star Sports) will be in Cancun tomorrow.

As a new team to the Liga de Ascenso it is expected that the coaching staff and front office of FC Juarez be very active in these meetings as they will build a majority of the team roster from deals that they make during the draft.

Apertura 2015 Schedule Has Been Released:

The schedule for the upcoming season was released earlier today. The season for FC Juarez will start here in the Borderland as they will face Lobos BUAP at Benito Juarez Olympic Stadium on July 25th at 7 pm. All home game for the team from the Borderland will be on Saturdays at 7 pm at Benito Juarez Olympic Stadium.